Joshua Tolentino fired a dagger jumper down the stretch to help lift Emilio Aguinaldo College past Perpetual, 59-53, in the second round of the NCAA Season 98 men's basketball tournament Tuesday, Nov. 8, at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan City.
The Generals averted a second-half meltdown after leading by as many as 14 points earlier behind the efforts of Art Cosa, JC Luciano, and Adrian Balowa.
Cosa posted 14 points and eight rebounds while Luciano did an all-around performance with 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Balowa chalked up 10 points, five rebounds, and five assists and Marcus Nitura also had eight points and five rebounds for Perpetual.
But it was Tolentino, delivering five points and six rebounds, who put the finishing touches for the already ran EAC which improved to a 2-13 record.
After an equally-contested third quarter, Perpetual slowly came alive in the payoff period and even outscored EAC, 14-12.
The Altas put the match within striking distance after John Abis split his free throw en route to a 55-53 deficit with 48.5 seconds left before Tolentino played the spoiler's role.
Cosa then iced the game with a pair of free throws with 3.9 ticks left and that proved to be it for the Altas, who slipped to a 5-9 record.
Rey Barcuma paced Perpetual with 12 points and three rebounds while Mark Omega posted 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Scores:
EAC (59) -- Cosa 14, Luciano 12, Balowa 10, Liwag 6, Dominguez 6, Tolentino 5, Cosejo 4, Umpad 2, Quinal 0, Ad. Doria 0, An. Doria 0, Angeles 0, Bacud 0.
Perpetual (53) -- Barcuma 12, Omega 11, Nitura 8, Razon 5, Abis 3, Egan 3, Roque 3, Flores 2, Boral 2, Movida 2, Pagaran 0, Nunez 0, Cuevas 0, Martel 0.
Quarterscores: 19-13, 34-26, 47-39, 59-53